12/09/2012

3 dead, 4 hurt in Central Calif. shootings, chase

Tulare County Sheriff's Office

Authorities say Hector Celaya, 31, was wounded in a shootout with detectives.

By NBC News staff

A man shot three people dead on a Central California Indian reservation and wounded three others, including two young girls, before being seriously wounded in a shootout with detectives after a car chase, authorities said.

The violence started Saturday night on the Tule River Indian Reservation in Porterville, Calif., the Tulare County Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies responding to a 911 call found a man and a woman dead inside a trailer and a male juvenile suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. The juvenile was transported to a hospital.

At a shed on the same property, deputies found the body of another man.

The person who called police said the suspect fled the scene in a green Jeep Cherokee.

Authorities identified the suspect as Hector Celaya, 31, and said he had taken his two daughters, ages 8 and 5.

A deputy spotted the suspect's vehicle and tried to stop it but the driver kept going, the sheriff's office said.

The suspect eventually stopped on the side of a road and a shootout ensued, authorities said The suspect was shot and was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, the sheriff's office said.

During the preliminary investigation, detectives said they determined that the suspect had also shot the two children. Authorities said one child had life-threatening injuries and the other had non-life-threatening injuries. No further details were released.

The sheriff's office did not say what may have precipitated the shootings.